Foreign Ministry slams US ban on investment

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian speaks during a regular news conference, Nov 9, 2022. [Photo/fmprc.gov.cn]

Beijing expressed its firm objection on Wednesday to the investment ban on China's enterprises imposed by the United States, saying the move was politically motivated and undermines the order of global financial markets.

Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, made the remark after the White House issued a notice on the continuation of the national emergency with respect to the so-called threat from securities investments that finance certain Chinese companies. The notice prohibits US citizens from investing in Chinese companies allegedly associated with the Chinese military.

Disregarding the facts and real situations of the companies concerned, the current US administration continues to carry out the erroneous practices of the last administration, Zhao said at a daily news briefing.

Such moves seriously damage the rules and order of the market, and hurt the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises and those of global investors, he said, and called on Washington to respect the rule of law and correct its misdeeds.

"China will take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies and support them in upholding their rights and interests in accordance with the law," he added.

The investment ban is the latest case of the US resorting to every possible means of deploying its domestic and external resources to contain and suppress China.

Referring to the notice, Zhang Tengjun, deputy director of the China Institute of International Studies' Department for Asia-Pacific Studies, said it has nothing to do with national security but is an excuse to contain China and preserve US hegemony and economic interests.

It is absurd that the White House has made accusations against China's military-civilian integration policy, as it is a common international practice to promote integrated development of the military and civilian sectors, Zhang said.

The US allegation against China also laid bare its "double standards", he said, noting that the US has a history of "military-civil fusion" dating back to the period before World War I and is good at leveraging the strategy.

"Acts by the current US administration to continuously engage in a trade war with China and abuse export control measures are like lifting a rock only to drop it on its own feet," Zhang said, adding that such actions hurt the interests of people in the US and relevant industries.